Princess of Darkness
by shieldmaiden19
Summary: "It is like visiting one's funeral, like visiting loss in its purest and most monumental form, this wild darkness, which is not only unknown but which one cannot enter as oneself." -Harold Brodkey. Book Two of my Lady of Shadows trilogy. AU ON TEMPORARY HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

_Princess of Darkness _

Chapter 1

_ Pop pop pop. Flashflashflash._ The sounds of the holocameras and the roar of the media greeted me as I walked into the room. As I strode in, they parted for me like grass before a mighty wind. As I ascended the stairs to the podium and stepped onto the stage, the thunderous voices of the hundreds of reporters, if possible, rose in volume. But when I raised my hands, all sound died away. The silence ringing in my ears, I adjusted the microphone to my height and looked straight at the GHN holocamera.

"I will say right now that I will not take questions. What I have to say will go no farther than my statement." I paused, then launched into the speech I had written. "Now, everybody here knows that once-Emperor Palpatine is missing. What everyone does _not_ know are the circumstances surrounding his mysterious disappearance. I am here to tell you exactly that but ." I let my words sink in, then began again, letting my long-contained anger imbue my words. "Palpatine was corrupt. He served no interests but his own, and hundreds of billions of beings across the galaxy have paid the price, with their money, with their property, and with their lives. I need not tell you how many loyal Imperials – troops and civilians alike – died because Palpatine had no care for his subjects. He cared as much for those under him as those not under him. We were nothing but bugs to be manipulated, toyed with, even destroyed at his leisure." I began meeting some of the eyes of the reporters. They were alternately skeptical, interested, or passionate. A small flame of excitement lit within me: I had them! "Look at Alderran," I said, allowing a half sob to enter my voice. "We were dissenters, yes, but _peaceful_ ones. We didn't want him out of office – we just wanted change in the galaxy! And just what was the price for that change? A _planet_!" I snarled, the anger I was putting into my voice not entirely faked. "We lost our home. Our families. Our _lives_. Palpatine didn't even seek after the worst dissenters – he just destroyed the whole planet. Think of your home, all of you," I said, looking at the GHN holocam. "Think of the planet you came from – your family, your friends, the dwelling you grew up in, the little nuances of the street or jungle or other habitat that made it _yours_. Hold that image in your mind; hold it there and _remember_. Remember the love that planet breathes for you from the time you were conceived even to this present hour." I paused, letting my words sink in. Clouds of contentment, peace, and happiness rose up from the reporters before me. "Now imagine your planet is gone," I said harshly. "Just _gone_." Fear and pain spiked through the cloud of feel-good-ness. "Imagine the depth of the cruelty, the apathy, the _darkness_ of the being that would order such a deed done. Palpatine was such a being," I said, my voice steadily rising. "Palpatine destroyed Alderran and countless other races and cultures in his lust for power. The galaxy is better off without him!" That was almost a shout. "He is gone, Empire!" I paused, hearing the gasps and frantic murmurs sweeping the room before me. "He is dead," I said quietly, but with no less steel. I took a deep breath in. "Palpatine _and_ his murderous henchman Darth Vader are dead," I said, my mouth tightening. "The Empire is free."

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VVV

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Reviews, perchance? ;)


	2. Chapter 2

_48 HOURS EARLIER_

_Cold...So cold...Expressionless...An inanimate void...Hazel wells never to see again...Han...HAN...The scream I long to let loose cannot get out...This emptiness fills my lungs and veins, choking me, smothering me, shackling my mind...I have lost all control over my body...Lying here, staring at everything and nothing, all reason to think, to feel, to _move_ gone, dead, lost in the gaping void, the void I long to throw myself into...Cold...So cold...Expressionless... _

"Leia." The voice rang through my stupor, echoing strangely, magnified by my grief. "Leia, you have to get up now." Only that dark voice could have pulled me from the hazy fog I had been living in, the seconds blending into minutes, the minutes lengthening into hours, the hours as unbearable as years. "_Leia..._" Fear spiked through me. Of their own accord, my eyes shifted into focus and were drawn up towards the mask I knew so well. The dark figure – my _father_, some part of me remembered – nodded approvingly, seeing my motion. Gently, he put one hand under my back and the other under my knees, and lifted me as if I weighed nothing. He carried me from the cabin into the main body of the ship and set me upright in a chair. Still listless, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the man now crouching in front of me. "Leia..." he said again, only this time, his voice touched something deep within me. Now he sounded two-toned, at once a rough baritone and a mechanized bass. "Leia, speak to me," he said.

I closed my eyes, feeling in the dark for that something deep within me. Groping, I finally found it; stroking it, letting it run through my fingers, I became more and more aware. I opened my inner eyes and saw the other familiar figure – who was the same person – standing before me. His hair was tousled and unkempt, his eyes both stern and kind. He held out his hand to me. That simple act broke the dam separating me from my emotions. Tears began streaming down my cheeks, and I ran as fast as I could into his arms. Our bond sang with the griefs we both had, mine a new and raw wound and his an old ache grown more powerful with every year that passed.

_ Dad_, I screamsobbed.

_Sweetheart_, he answered, his grief one beyond tears.

I lost all concept of time in that special place between him and I. When I was all cried out – or as much as possible at one time – I opened my physical eyes. My father stood, looming over me; he bent down and cupped my cheek in his leather-bound hand. I leaned into it, my feelings for him beyond words.

Gently, he lifted my chin up. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked quietly. I nodded, my tongue still partially imprisoned by the grief. He bustled around the kitchenette, putting a can of soup to warm on the stove. Silently, I watched him. His presence flickered with the static of exhaustion.

_How long was I out?_ I asked him.

"Forty-eight hours," he answered out loud. "We are less than a day from Coruscant now." He paused, something hanging deep within his mind. He turned to me, stopped again, and said slowly, "Do you want to kill the Emperor?"

A roaring filled my ears. _The Emperor_. The one who had imprisoned my father in the worst cage imaginable. The one who had ordered my home destroyed. The one who had ordered Han killed. I knew at that moment that my eyes changed color from innocent brown to harshest red. _More than anything,_ I growled, my teeth clenched.

My father nodded acquiescence. I stopped short: his Force sense was..._clouded_. He was at once Darkly satisfied and _regretful_. The regret had sparked into greater life when my eyes changed, and now, he was wrestling with it. I filed it away as a topic of conversation for later.

I took a deep breath in, getting the darkness coursing through me under control, before meeting his eyes. _So,_ I said. _What's the plan?_

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Hi everybody! I hope your holiday was a joy-filled one! I'm sorry to hear that some people don't understand the concept of a 'break' and that some people have that remarkable kind of vision that does not allow them to see beyond their own nose. I feel bad for them and hope they come to see that I am not writing this story for _them_ but for _me_.

Thank you, everyone for your wonderful reviews! Overall, I am excited to continue this story and can't wait to hear your feedback!


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